Take a look at pentax. They have been passed around like a drunken prom queen, but pentax users are still getting great cameras.

I like that statement!

With that all being said, i don't think we are in danger of sony dropping the ball here. I think they are just waiting on new technology to put into A mount so there is a big enough improvement for the next generation. Nobody is going to pay premium prices for an A78 if it's not a significant upgrade over the A77.

I would agree with this and it goes along with the question I have been wondering about. With current sensor tech at the level it currently is at...can Sony do a lot to improve the a77? Consider the Nikon D800 and D800e; Sony sensors in bodies released a year before the A7 and A7r. Yet the output of the new Sony's is pretty close to those cameras. So the new a78 or a79 whatever it is to be called will be better than the a77 but the question is how much better and at what cost. That is what has me seriously wondering about grabbing one of these great a77 models now. I am not worried at all about the A-mount future. I am more curious what Sony can do with their sensor tech and more importantly when they do it.